


Kisses and pumpkin cupcakes

by niamcuddles



Series: Niam Network Themes [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:09:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamcuddles/pseuds/niamcuddles
Summary: Niall's not sure if he can impress Liam by turning up in an embarrassing costume, so he ditches the dressing up part and just hopes for the best.





	

“Hurry up, Nialler! We’re gonna be late!“ Harry half yelled from the bedroom of their dorm, almost causing Niall to drop his hairspray into the sink, his hand kind of shaky for various reasons. The blonde used to have always loved dressing up for Halloween, especially as a child, but it was _Liam_ throwing a party tonight and honestly, turning up in a costume that would possibly turn out to be embarrassing was the last thing Niall wanted.

“’m almost done, Haz, calm down, we’re still gonna be too early anyways. It’s not even really dark yet.” Which meant it was about 7 pm, maybe not the usual time to throw a college Halloween party, but Liam hadn’t really invited too many people as far as Niall was concerned, and also, his mother was making him open the door for trick or treaters. 

Anyone else would have maybe found that embarrassing, but not Liam, and for some reason, when he did it, no one really seemed to question it. He just… he had this thing about him, where literally _everyone_ half fell in love with him after chatting for like 5 minutes. It had happened to Niall as well, three semesters ago when they had first met, only… the blonde hadn’t only fallen _half_ in love with Liam. 

“What are you even doing in there? Halloween wasn’t really invented to impress your crush, y’know.” Harry was getting impatient, he was standing in the doorway to the bathroom now, judging Niall through the mirror. “What are you supposed to be?”

“I… I haven’t really thought about it.” Maybe Niall’s attempt to NOT turn up looking somehow embarrassing had led to him looking like nothing at all. To be fair though, he did have fake blood in his hair and some fake scars along his neck and cheek, but… it didn’t really live up to Harry’s pirate outfit. He had had the hair for it already though, it was hardly fair. “Sometimes the most normal looking people turn out to be the psychos.”

“Fine, but you don’t look like a normal person, you look like a crazy guy who has spent an hour doing his hair and picking out an outfit you should have rather saved for a date.” There was some truth in Harry’s words, or maybe a lot, but Niall just shrugged anyways. His crush on Liam had never been a secret anyways, so why would he even try to deny it? “Come on now, it’s not gonna get any better, Ni.”

“Just one more minute, I gotta brush my teeth.” For the third time, but Harry didn’t have to know that, right? The younger boy just let out a heavily exaggerated sigh before going back to lying on his bed and whining.

 

\---------------

 

Liam didn’t live too far away from campus. Niall could have probably found the way there with closed eyes by now because he was over so often, eating dinner with Liam’s family or studying with the older boy or simply hanging out. They had become friends quite quickly, had somehow clicked just like that and though they weren’t half as close as Niall would have liked, he did consider Liam his best friend. Well, him and Harry of course, but that was different because they had grown up together. 

“What’s Louis dressed up as anyways? Didn’t you wanna wear couple costumes?” Louis’ lived just a few streets away from Liam, also with his family, but other than Liam who simply liked being home, Louis kind of had a responsibility to fulfill when his parents had gotten divorced, leaving his mother with 5 kids. 

Sometimes it seemed to Niall as if Harry and Louis had literally become a couple the day that they had met, which had caused him to feel left out for a little bit, but only until he had met Liam during a study session in the library. Turned out that Louis and Liam had been friends since years and somehow all 4 of them got along brilliantly, as if it had been meant to be.

“We are, he’s a pirate as well.” Harry sounded just slightly annoyed as he pressed the doorbell again, there was music coming out from inside, really quietly though, because Liam would have never wanted to disturb the neighbors.

“That’s really boring.” Niall said it mostly to annoy his friend, and it worked quite well. In fact, Harry already had his mouth open, undoubtedly to bash Niall’s ‘costume’ again, when Liam unknowingly saved the blonde by _finally_ opening the door for them.

“Oh, hey, guys. Sorry, I thought you were trick or treaters.” To say Liam looked mind blowing was an understatement, Niall almost felt as if he couldn’t breathe for a second or two, his eyes practically glued to the rips in Liam’s shirt. And they were really big rips, because he was probably supposed to be some kinda zombie attack victim, Niall didn’t care, what mattered was that even those fake wounds and the fake blood suited Liam ridiculously well. 

“So you brought your dog?” Right, Niall hadn’t even noticed that Liam was holding his dog with one arm. It was yelping now, trying to get down because he always wanted to greet any visitor by crazily jumping up and down their legs.

“The kids like to pet him. Especially when he’s in his Batman outfit.” God, Liam was so cute with his dog, dressing him up in costumes and letting the kids play with him, Niall was literally _melting_ on that doorstep. “Anyways, come on in, it’s kinda cold.”

Almost as soon as they were inside, Harry already left them because he must have seen Louis hanging around somewhere. The house didn’t seem to be too full, which was probably because Liam hadn’t wanted to invite any douchebags who would trash the place, he was always so considerate and lovely and-

“Ni? You okay?” The blonde had to actually force his eyes away from Liam’s lips, feeling his cheeks heating up as he realized that Liam must have asked him something.

“Yeah, I… sorry, I was just… what did you say?” Leaning down just a bit to pet Liam’s dog that he had put down now, Niall was trying really damn hard to calm down again. But how could he have, with Liam looking like this?

“I was just wondering what you were supposed to be.” The brunette boy laughed, his hand coming to a rest on Niall’s hip, seemingly natural, and maybe it was, but it still caused goosebumps to rise all over Niall’s arms. 

“Oh, um… I’m not sure, I… I kinda started thinking about it this morning and then it already seemed to be way too late anyways, so I… what are _you_ supposed to be?” Besides a handsome guy with rips in his shirt that exposed his abs and his chest hair and-

“You know… I was actually planning on making something up and pretend that those rips are supposed to be this asymmetrical, but since you’ve been so honest with me, I think you can keep my secret as well.” He winked at Niall and the blonde smiled like a stupid idiot, leaning closer into Liam because the hand was still on his hip. “Do you want something to eat? My mum made Halloween cupcakes and I’m not sure if they’re too lame to put out for everyone, but if you could pretest them and tell everyone they’re really good, I might do it.”

“But if they’re really good I’d rather you saved them and then let me have the leftovers when I help you cleaning up.” It was a joke, although Niall really did have planned to help Liam clean up after the party was over, even if the brunette hadn’t asked him to, but… it’d be fun and besides, it meant they could spend more time together.

“You really don’t have to, Ni, there probably won’t be too much to clean and I’d save you as many cupcakes as you want anyways.” His face had lit up though when Niall had said it, and he didn’t sound too unhappy with the idea, so… 

“Nah, but I wanna help you clean, it’s not fair if you have to do it all by yourself.” The blonde shrugged, still smiling up at the slightly taller boy before he suddenly got surprised as Liam pulled him into an unexpected hug. God, he smelled so amazing, how was that even possible?!

“Thanks, Nialler… “ Somehow, Liam was hugging him a bit too tightly, but Niall didn’t mind at all, he had made sure to return the hug immediately, taking in the warmth radiating off of the older’s body, the way his stubble had scratched across his cheek, leaving it just a little burned. No matter what happened tonight, this was already Niall’s favorite party of all time. “C’mon… I’ll show you the snacks before they’re all gone.”

It was only half bad when Liam pulled away, because his hand remained on the small of Niall’s back and his smile was so sweet that the younger boy had trouble walking straight after seeing it and after looking into those chocolate brown eyes. Niall was so in love.

 

\------------

 

The party went really well. Of course Niall talked to people that weren’t Liam, and not only because the brunette did the same but also because most of them were his friends, and maybe also a little bit so Harry wouldn’t be teasing him all that much later when they were back at their dorm. Or tomorrow, because the younger boy would surely go home with Louis and Niall tried not to be hopeful that Liam would ask him to spend the night, but he kinda knew that he would.

Whenever it was possible, the blonde made sure to sit next to Liam, or be in the same room as him at least, and maybe he was just imaging it, but Liam was definitely not unhappy about Niall trying to be subtle about following him around like a puppy. He would constantly throw his arm around the blonde’s shoulders and pull him closer, always touching him in whatever way, letting him try whatever food or drink he was holding even if Niall never asked and sometimes wished Liam wouldn't have just held the food in front of his mouth because turned out the cupcakes weren't only shaped like pumpkins but also tasted exactly like pumpkins and well... there was actually nothing Niall hated more. Still, it was Liam and he had just been trying to be nice, so as far as the brunette was concerned, pumpkin was Niall's favorite from now on.

All in all, it was a really successful party and Niall couldn’t have been smiling any more often than he was during that night. Well, until suddenly, he wasn’t anymore.

“Li, uh... me and Louis have to leave, just wanted to-“

“Wait, why?” Liam and Niall were sitting on the couch with a few friends when Harry came over, looking kind of freaked out and as the blonde threw a look towards the door, he could see Louis freaking out even more than his boyfriend while putting on his shoes.

“Louis’ mum called, the twins went trick or treating with friends’ parents and… Daisy didn’t come home, she somehow got lost. They can’t find her anywhere and… we gotta go help them look.” Oh shit, the twins were only 7 years-old and it was really dark outside and there were probably a ton of creepy guys running around… shit, Niall had to help too.

“Oh my god… how… how long has she been missing for, I…” Liam seemed to be as shocked as Niall, who was already about to jump up, only a little bit thinking about how he would miss out on spending time with Liam.

“I have no idea, honestly, I just… we really gotta go, if anything happens to her… “ He didn’t finish the sentence because they all understood very well what could have happened. “I’ll call you if we hear anything, okay?”

“Wait, I… I should come help you guys as well.” Niall forced himself to stop Harry before he could selfishly stay here and be with his best friend slash crush. “I mean… the more, the better, right?”

“Right, yeah… thanks, Ni. But we should really get going now, Louis is gonna lose it.” Harry managed half a smile as Niall got up and the blonde couldn’t even be too happy about Liam’s hand still wrapped around his wrist because he was so nervous for Louis’ sister. 

“Maybe… maybe I should come too.” Liam threw in, slowly getting up, their friends still talking on the couch long forgotten and Harry having gone over to the door to put on his shoes. 

“No, you… you should really stay here, Li. It’s your party and… I’m sure we’ll find her soon and we’ll be back in just a bit, it’ll be fine.” Niall was more calming himself down than anything else, a little bit distracted by Liam’s thumb rubbing over the inside of his wrist, standing way close to him than probably appropriate. 

“Okay, but… make sure to call me if anything happens, yeah? And… be careful.” He sounded really worried and it was only now that Niall realized that Liam seemed to be more worried about _him_ than about Louis’ sister. 

“I… I will, I-“

Before Niall could finish or even begin to say something useful, the older boy suddenly leaned forward, even closer into the blonde’s space, and then… then he kissed Niall’s forehead, softly but very briefly, half a smile growing on his face as he pulled back, probably because Niall was turning red as a tomato, almost having forgotten that he was supposed to hurry up. Not that they had never kissed each other on the cheek, but like… there were so many people here and… Harry and Louis were right by the door, probably watching them because they wanted Niall to move his ass and… Liam had still done it, fully aware of all of these things.

And Niall didn’t even have a chance to react.

“Niall, are you coming, or… ?” Louis sounded as if he would rip Niall’s head off if he let them wait for just another second.

“Yeah, I… I’m coming.” Niall half mumbled back, still busy staring into Liam’s eyes, trying to somehow capture the feeling of the older’s lips pressing against his forehead, his breath brushing over Niall’s face for just a moment, fingers still limply holding onto his wrist. “Umm…. see you in… in a bit?”

Liam just smiled as he let Niall go, but there was still worry in his eyes and Niall almost felt dizzy with how happy he was that his best friend was worried about him, even though that seemed highly inappropriate considering what he was about to do, but… shit, it was _Liam_.

 

\--------------

 

Somehow, Niall really didn’t know how it had happened, but after they had met Louis’ mother and had heard a very upset and sobbing 7-year-old try to tell them between tears where they had gone trick or treating and when they had realized Daisy wasn’t there anymore, Niall was walking down the streets by himself.

It’s not that the blonde was afraid of the dark or anything, he was just… a little bit nervous, because it was getting late and because it was Halloween and he had already been scared twice by some stupid idiots who were throwing rocks at cars or some shit. Actually, Niall had no idea why he had been chosen to go search by himself, it had just kinda happened in the heat of the moment and everyone crying and being freaked out and… anyways, now Niall was here, all alone. Kinda freaked out. 

Though Niall had only been gone from the party for like 30 minutes, he already felt an urge to text Liam, just to check how long the older boy would need to answer him. But that would’ve been ridiculous, right? Niall had nothing to say anyways, he didn’t wanna be a baby and tell Liam he was scared, distract him from his party, so… he just had to pull it together and keep on searching and everything would be fine.

Since Niall wasn’t even walking on the actual street that Louis’ other sister had mentioned, he was highly doubting that he would actually find Daisy. Of course he was still yelling her name and asking any parents with kids that he passed whether they had seen her. Without any luck, obviously, or he could have long gone back and maybe not frozen to death out here. 

Another 30 minutes later, when Niall had literally walked so far that he had no idea anymore where he even was, he realized that he was slowly approaching the forest. To be quite honest, Niall had had no idea a forest even existed anywhere around here as he had only been living in this area for one and a half years, but… it was already giving him the chills. 

“Daisy?!” Niall tried again as he realized that he hadn’t been yelling for quite a while, slowly coming to a stop right before the street ended, leading between the trees, a barely noticeable path that… looked a lot as if it was leading Niall into his own death.

Did he have to do this? But what if she WAS in there, for whatever reason? And he could have saved her but he had decided to walk away, because he was afraid? Nothing would happen in there, right? Niall had agreed to help look for Daisy, he couldn’t just bail now, could he?

So after a few moments of hesitation, Niall took a deep breath before forcing his legs to move, his heart beating unnaturally fast, chills creeping up his spine and causing his hair to stand on end as he turned on the flashlight on his phone with shaky fingers. 

Everything would be just fine, wouldn’t it? Niall would just walk through this damn forest and yell Daisy’s name and he wouldn’t find her but he would at least feel a little bit less guilty than before. He had just been alone for like 30 minutes, Louis or Harry would call him in just a minute and then Niall could walk back to Liam’s party and help him clean up and… hopefully spend the night. Right?

Well, that plan seemed to become a little bit less likely when Niall just kept walking without a real end in sight, not really hearing any sounds either except for the leaves crunching underneath his shoes, the wind blowing through the trees and… and then suddenly the blonde’s foot got caught in something, and before Niall even realized what had happened, he was lying on his stomach and his head was spinning and somehow… the forest seemed to become even darker than it had already been.

 

\--------

 

“… Niall? Niall, are you awake?” All Niall noticed was that his head and foot were hurting like hell and that he felt crazily close to throwing up as the voice kept trying to wake him when all he wanted to do was just sleep and lie on the ground and… wait, he was definitely not lying anywhere, it felt more as if he was… floating? “Babe, please, say something, okay? I got you, yeah? Everything will be fine, I promise, I’m here and I got you, yeah? You just gotta wake up for me, _please_ , Nialler.”

Even if Niall had wanted to say something, his throat somehow felt way too tight and his head was spinning and everything smelled like dirt and something else and… wait, the blonde knew that second smell, and actually, he also knew that voice very well and… oh. “L-Liam…?”

“I’m here, love, don’t worry, yeah? I’m so glad you’re awake, does anything hurt? Are you cold?” It definitely was Liam, sounding worried as hell and now that Niall was starting to feel more conscious again, he came to the conclusion that the older boy was definitely carrying him and… wait, had he just called Niall _love_?! “Ni? Don’t fall back asleep, please, I… when I found you I thought that… but then I saw what you tripped over and… oh god, please be okay, Nialler.”

“I… ‘m f-fine… I just… “ Though speaking somehow really hurt, Niall tried his very best for Liam, tried to ignore the pinching pain that had somehow spread to his whole body, increasing as he tried to blink his eyes open, his arm instinctively wrapping more tightly around Liam’s neck. “My uh… my head hurts a bit.”

“I know, Ni… you’re bleeding, but it doesn’t look too bad, okay? You just tripped and hit your head and it’s gonna be alright, I promise, babe. What were you doing in there anyways? I can’t believe Harry and Louis made you go looking for Daisy all by yourself, I’m gonna fucking kill them when we get back home.” As worried and gentle as Liam’s voice had sounded before, it had very rapidly become angry and almost as if he really meant what he said. 

“’s not… their fault, I was just… I wanted to make sure and… it’s my fault… “ By now, Niall had finally managed to force his eyes to stay open, realizing that they were already out of the forest and even though his stomach was growing warm from how much Liam cared about him and how he was standing up for Niall, there was still something else that worried the blonde. “Wait… did they… did they find Daisy? Is she-“

“She’s fine. She just got lost and was waiting on the porch of some house they had gone to before, they already found her an hour ago and of course they waited fucking ages to call you and then call me when you didn’t pick up and… god, I can’t believe I found you, I… I thought something really terrible happened and when I saw you lying there, I… “ He stopped right there, his voice having gone tight and Niall would have tried to calm him down if he had had the strength. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Nialler, I… I would have never forgiven myself if anything had happened to you. I knew I should have gone with you guys, I... but all that matters is that you’re alright. I’m gonna call a… a doctor or an ambulance when we’re home to make sure you’re okay and-“

“Li, I’m fine, really, I just… I just hit my head a bit, I-“

“You were passed out for god knows how long, babe, I’m definitely not gonna ignore this, there’s no arguing with me tonight, okay? I should have already called an ambulance as soon as I saw you lying there, but I had to get you back to the street and then you woke up and… ” Niall knew that Liam was right, but maybe he still would have tried to argue, had he not suddenly heard the older boy sob quietly and then simply press a kiss to Niall’s forehead, the second one tonight. Okay, maybe he had hit his head really badly and thought he had had to die for a few minutes, but THIS had definitely been worth it.

 

\----------------

 

Liam carried Niall back all the way without even having to stop or take a break, he was just so strong and the blonde knew it was inappropriate, but that really was a turn on. Obviously, Niall felt like crap though, and when they got back to Liam’s, who only briefly mentioned that he had immediately thrown everybody out when he had heard that Niall was missing, he seemed to have gotten even worse.

Even though Liam still seemed angry with Harry and Louis, he called them anyways once he had put Niall in his own bed, had tucked him in even and forbidden him to sit up or go to sleep. It was kinda convenient that Louis’ mum was a nurse, because she immediately called someone to stop by and had Niall not been embarrassed enough, he absolutely died being checked out by a doctor while having Liam, Harry AND Louis in the same room. 

“See, I told you he’s fine, Li, he just looks a bit-“

“Just shut it, Harry.” The tension in the room had gotten about fifty times worse as soon as the doctor had left, with the conclusion that Niall would be absolutely fine but that he shouldn’t be alone overnight and that he should definitely come in tomorrow to get his head checked out properly. “You guys have done enough damage already.”

“We haven’t done anything, Liam, we tried calling Niall immediately after we found Daisy, it wasn’t our fault that he got hurt and I know you’re worried about him, but the doc just said he’s fine and-“

“AND he was still lying in the bloody forest, unconscious, because you guys thought it’d be a great idea to have Niall go searching all by himself. Like, I get that you were worried about Louis’ sister, but… Niall was searching in an area where no kids ever even go trick or treating because it’s just rich snobs who never open the bloody door!” Okay, Niall should have really stepped in now, he was still in Liam’s bed, now only in boxer shorts though but covered with two blankets that Liam had insisted on, and a really stupid bandage on the side of his forehead. 

“Look… we’re sorry, okay? We really are, we already apologized like twenty times to Niall, but we can’t make it undone, Li.” Harry was sitting on Liam’s spinning chair and Louis was just leaning in the doorframe whereas Liam himself… well, he was sitting on the bed next to Niall, holding the younger’s hand since about 15 minutes already and god knows Niall wasn’t going to complain. Even Liam’s dog was here, still in his Batman costume, warming up Niall’s feet like he had done so often whenever the blonde had slept over. And would tonight as well, because Liam had already stared Harry down when he had even just dared to start suggesting that he could stay at the dorms with him instead of going to Louis’ place.

“It’s fine, guys… I know it’s not your fault.” Niall started, trying to manage something like a smile at both of them, feeling a bit stupid that he couldn’t even really sit up because Liam would have just pushed him back down. Then again, of course this was Niall’s ideal outcome of the situation and maybe that’s why he allowed Liam to talk to the other two like that, because he couldn’t think of anything better than have the boy he was in love with be so worried about him that he started yelling.

“Maybe you two should just go. Niall really needs to get some rest and his head probably still hurts, he really doesn’t need us in here fighting.” Actually, Liam’s voice sounded cold as ice, he didn’t even blink as far as Niall could tell and for the split of a second, the blonde wanted to say something to calm him down, but then… then he decided not to.

“Alright, if that’s what you want… “ Louis rolled his eyes as he pushed away from the doorframe, holding his arm out towards Harry, not even looking at Liam in the process. “Sorry again, Nialler. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?”

“Me too.” Harry smiled at the blonde before taking his boyfriend’s hand and Niall thanked them quietly, kinda feeling a little bit as if he was betraying Liam with that, but… they all knew that this wasn’t how Liam usually acted, he never tried to pick a fight, never wanted to upset anybody, he was understanding and forgiving, however… not tonight, apparently.

“Sorry for that… “ Liam immediately started as soon as they had heard the front door shut quietly, his voice having gone back to normal, gentle almost, and had there been anything to forgive, Niall would have buckled in immediately. “I didn’t mean to… yell at them, I just… I was really stressed out when… when you were missing and then… “

“I know.” Niall squeezed the older’s hand, his heart still beating as fast as it had when Liam had first grabbed it, keeping it warm in his slightly bigger one. “I kinda… I kinda wanted them to leave anyways.”

“Yeah?” Smiling a bit, Liam suddenly started moving, letting go of Niall’s hand in the progress, but before the younger boy could feel disappointed, the other boy was suddenly lying down next to him, intertwining their fingers once more. 

“Yeah… thank you for… for worrying so much about me, Li… and for carrying me all the way back and… I have no idea how you even managed to do that, but… you saved me and… thank you.” Though Niall could feel his face getting hotter once more, he tried to ignore it, turning his head even so he could look at Liam, his gorgeous profile, the rips in his shirt looking even more prominent now that he was lying down. 

“Don’t thank me, Ni, you’re my best friend, of course I’m gonna freak out if anything happens to you. And just to warn you, I’m probably gonna freak out even more the next few days and ask you every five minutes if you’re alright and I’m definitely dragging you to the hospital to get your head checked out tomorrow.” Had anybody else said that, Niall would have maybe been annoyed and rolled his eyes, but when Liam said it… the blonde just wanted to kiss him even more than he did on a daily basis.

“You’re my best friend too, Li.” Was all Niall could think of saying, just because he had never really said it before and it felt really nice even if… even if it wasn’t really what he wanted, but… he was definitely not brave enough to bring that up. “I’m sorry about… ruining your party.”

At this part, Liam finally turned his head as well so they could look at each other, his face had gone all soft again, the same smile on his lips that he seemed to reserve only for Niall, the one that got his knees going weak. “You know, I… I wasn’t ever gonna tell you, but… for a second today I thought you were dead, so I guess you deserve to know the truth. I’m not really… the party kinda guy? As you probably know and I… well, look, I was gonna ask you to come stay at my house for the night, and watch some horror movies because the last time was really fun even though you ended up in my lap, but I… I didn’t really mind that at all. Anyways… I never really asked if you were into celebrating Halloween, so I guess I decided to throw a party simply so I could make sure to cover that in case watching movies with me would be too boring for you and… well, here we are.”

“You… you only had a party because… because you thought I’d be _bored_ watching movies with you?” Had Niall just… fallen unconscious again or was he having hallucinations?

“Well… not in general, I mean, just on this particular day, I… “ Then Liam suddenly sighed, looking away from Niall’s very confused face and had the blonde not known better, he would have said Liam was blushing. “It’s just… I know you get invited to a lot of parties, I know you like being around people and having fun and… I didn’t want you to go to anybody else’s house, so… I thought I’d throw a really lame party and… you’d be forced to come because we’re friends?”

“Liam, I… “ Shit, how was he allowed to be so bloody cute?! Niall had no idea why Liam thought he had to go to such extreme measures to spend time with Niall, or why he would even want to so desperately, but… the blonde had never felt quite as flattered. “Spending the night with you watching movies would have been… my very first choice over anything.”

“I… really?” Once more, Liam turned his head, seemingly positively surprised and… had Niall not been way too obvious about his crush anyways? How could Liam not at least… have a suspicion? 

“Of course, Li, I… I always wanna spend time with you. Alone, I mean…” The blonde admitted, quietly though, because he was really embarrassed and even had to look away from Liam’s face for a second, almost flinching when he suddenly felt the older boy moving their hands up to his face and then… then he bloody KISSED the back of Niall’s. 

There was a moment of silence where the blonde didn’t dare to breathe, feeling the tension in the air, for a moment thinking he had messed up when suddenly… suddenly he felt the older boy moving closer towards him, as far as that was possible, his hand slowly retracting from Niall’s and before the blonde even knew it, there was a finger stroking his cheek. One second…

“Niall… would you be very… mad at me if I… if I kissed you right now?” Oh.

“I-I… n-no… “ Was this really happening?! But how could Liam… how could he like Niall like that?! He had never really let it show or… or maybe he had? Maybe he had and Niall had mistaken it for friendly gestures and… oh god, was he really gonna-

Before Niall could go crazy, or finish another thought, his nose filled with Liam’s cologne and he felt the older’s stubble brushing over his skin, soft lips gently pressing against his own, a warm hand cupping his cheek. That was it, that was the best moment of Niall’s life, hands down, nothing would ever top this, he had gone straight to heaven and there was no coming back. Liam fucking Payne was _kissing_ him.

It didn’t last half as long as Niall had always imagined it in his head, but it had also been 100 times better and as Liam pulled away chuckling softly, Niall couldn’t help but crack a smile, his heart seconds from jumping out of his chest. This had really just happened, Liam had kissed HIM, out of all people, the most gorgeous and sweetest guy somehow wanted to kiss Niall and… wow.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, but I… I always thought I’m just imaging things and I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship, but then I saw you lying there before and even looking at you now and I just… Niall, I really, really like you and you _are_ my best friend, but I’d really like to see if we could work out as more because you’re the funniest and most gorgeous guy I’ve ever met and I’m sorry I freaked out before, I just couldn’t bear the thought of anything ever happening to you because you’re the most important person in my life and I just… I really wanna go to the hospital tomorrow and hold your hand and tell everyone they better do a really good job checking your head because you’re my boyfriend and I’m allowed to freak out. So do you think that maybe… that maybe we could do that?” Holy shit.

Niall first of all had to swallow, his smile slowly faltering as he stared into Liam’s eyes, not being able to believe that they had both been too scared to say anything to the other person for _months_ and now after having gotten into the most ridiculous situation ever Liam had just kinda blurted it out and… fuck, Niall was so happy. “Of course, Li… oh my god, I… I was gonna tell you so many times, but I… I never knew when or how or… I’d _love_ to be your boyfriend, I… there’s nothing I’d want more, I… I love you.”

This time when Liam smiled, he had crinkles next to his eyes, and Niall’s cheeks were literally burning up for just having said that without spending a thought on it, but he quickly decided it had been way worth it when Liam kissed him again, still cupping his cheek, only interrupting the kiss to half whisper against Niall’s lips. “I love you too, Nialler.”

When Liam deepened the kiss, being all so gentle with Niall because he had been hurt, the blonde could still taste the bloody pumpkin cupcakes in the older's mouth and it would have made him laugh had he not at the same time been trying to hold back his tears of happiness for acting out what he had been daydreaming about so often, even if completely different than he had imagined. Somehow though, that only made it better.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys :)
> 
> this is super late but its for the niamnetwork(.tumblr.com) theme 6 ( which is halloween obv)!  
> i know its nothing special, they just fall in love and its cute ha, so i hope you guys liked it, id love if you left me a comment cos i miss talking to you guys on here and i promise (!!!) im gonna start working on my new fic very very soon, i already have it planned out, i just need to start writing it!
> 
> hope you all had a fun halloween or just a really fun day if you dont celebrate <33


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